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The start of the virus was unknown, but it started and spread through Equestria like wildfire, killing countless thousands of ponies. Hardly any are still alive, and the ones that are struggle to survive. The Mane Six are a few of the survivors, and ·Mudraynebow

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Rainbow Dash is an unlikely matchmaker, but she's also not a pony that leaves her friends hanging. When she sees the feelings Applejack and Rarity have for each other, she tries to get them together. Dash fails, but gains something nonetheless. ·Ebon Mane

the entire story felt like a non-event to me. somepony coughed and rainbow dash kills fluttershy. The characters did exactly what they said they would. There was no conflict. Maybe Im missing something..

That was an amazing story. Although the ending makes really no sense to me. Was it somepony outside that coughed? Or did Fluttershy lie about her cough so she wouldn't have to live through the suffering of this life?

EqD described it as "flash fiction," which I had never heard of. Wasn't going to read it because it said Grimdark, but it was short and in a new style!

I realize my mistake. Amazing quality, though! A number of comments before mine bring up a good point: This could have been done with humans, and the only thing lost would be our prior knowledge of the characters.

Honestly, I first considered the plot before I got into the pony fandom, but I didn't write back then. I still might do a human version. I'll probably experiment with first person and change a couple of things, but keep the most important parts.

Very nice flash fiction. I had a feeling about what the ending would've been, but it was well executed and well written. I read a lot of dark stories, so the gruesome scenes didn't impact me as much as other readers, but it definitely worked. The knowledge that they were trapped with a fresh pegasus corpse would be extremely unnerving.

The thoughts that went through Rainbow's mind after the second cough must have been agonizing.

I think the fact it was the mane cast rather than humans enhanced the story, since we already know a lot about the characters' personalities and can more easily imagine how each of them feels throughout (apart from the obvious, of course). Also, the ponies represent the innocence which is lost by them all. I don't think humans in the same situation would've had quite the same impact.

I'd say this story was good, but... the author has the added benefit of us already caring about the characters, making it easier to write. But with its short length and minimal development, if it weren't for the ponies it... wouldn't be that good.

It seems to be a classic case of the author having a story to tell, but just making it a fanfiction instead of something original, thus maximizing readership. It has nothing to do with MLP other than the characters being in it, and really, those roles could have been filled by almost anybody in any fandom. A tiny bit of dialogue change and there you go.

No, this story would have been much better as an original piece, but it would have to be much longer so that we could get emotionally invested in the characters.